Intuit to Buy Mailchimp

 EMail Marketing Acquisition.

Intuit's $12B Mailchimp Purchase Breathes New Life Into Email Marketing  By Jack M. Germain

Intuit on Monday announced an agreement to acquire Mailchimp, a global customer engagement and marketing platform for small and mid-market businesses, for $12 billion in cash and stock advances. The purchase could be the linchpin that thrusts the mostly financial software company into solving more fertile mid-market business challenges for its customers. .... ' 

Thinking Under Biases. Fast and Slow

A friend sends a  link from the WSJ:  Why the Grass Seem's Greener.  " ... We are of Two Minds - One deliberative and rational, the other quick and intuitive.  They often don't agree. ... "  A review of the book by economist Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow. 

Intuit Heads to the Aisle with Aislebuyer

Late to this one, but thought I would close the books on my coverage of the in retail-buying system Aislebuyer, developed by my former colleague Andrew Paradise, and mentioned here a number of times.   It was sold this past April to Intuit. Which will give Intuit some interesting further presence in the retail aisle beyond their other POS system.   Congratulations to Andrew.

Further now Andrew has started a multiplayer gaming site called Skillz.    An article about Skillz here. And a further explanatory video.  " .... Skillz Says Real-Money Betting in Mobile Games Is Paying Off ... ".  Intriguing idea which dances around the definition of games and betting.   Will follow up on this.  Good luck Andrew.

Data Democracy for the Little Guy

In GigaOM: It points to two items mentioned here.  Intuit's pushing the idea of an era of big data for the little guy.  And also data visualization techniques that aim to make understanding data easier. and thus analytics easier to do.  like Tableau.  Their catchphrase of visual analytics for everyone. Their IPO now awaits.  There are certainly many more democratized sources of data available today.  And some evolving, cheaper and simpler to use tools.  A good direction to watch and try to influence.

Mobile Promotions and Impulse Buys

In Progressive Grocer: Perhaps a non intuitive linkage?  " ... Research published by the American Marketing Association shows that shoppers make more unplanned purchases when prompted by promotions through a mobile device. "Retailers have the ability to target their promotions in ways that weren't possible before, and our study provides a road map for mobile marketers who seek to increase unplanned spending in stores," said study co-author Sam Hui, a professor at the New York University Stern School of Business. ... " 

Optimizing Business Process

Rexamining a company, Charlotte Software Systems.  We had worked with their CEO Kevin Kostuik, when he and other people there worked with former component BiosGroup and then NuTech.  The company was bought by Netezza, which was then folded into IBM.    Charlotte is now an independent company.  We used some of their methods to address genetic and optimization solutions to such problems as project portfolio analysis, supply chain design and product development investment.   Worth a look.  Will  report more here as I can.  Pass me any experiences you have had.

   " ... Charlotte Software Systems specializes in cutting-edge optimization software to support enhanced tactical and strategic planning. Our systems can help optimize a number of complex business processes from large scale resource scheduling to strategic asset allocation. ...The foundation for our solutions is a powerful modeling and optimization platform upon which we capture the intricate details of your specific business process. Our solutions are delivered with attractive user interfaces which allow business specialists an intuitive way to manage their process. The resulting application is precisely tuned to fit your business while leveraging a proven platform of advanced optimization technologies. ... " 

More Easily Used Data Please

GigaOM points to the fact that if we had more easily used data, we would not need more data scientists.  Scientists are useful, but we need the leverage of intelligent software, visualization  and easily used and adaptible infrastructure.   I note this links well to Intuit's plan to bring data and associated analytics to everyone.  Small to medium sized companies and even individuals can benefit.

Towards an Era of Big Data for the Little Guy

I was invited to a presentation by Intuit and Emergent Research last week.   Intuit presented an excellent view of how they were addressing the world of big data.   This is a followup of work we did earlier this year to address the changing views of and access to big data.   Brad Smith,  CEO of Intuit,  spoke of how they believe that the coming era will embody 'Big Data for the Little Guy', and that Intuit is particularly well positioned for this since they are already engaging with consumers and small business effectively with database and analytics technologies.

In particular this includes the ability to democratize data that is now available from many sources:  Government, industry groups, social entities, and even the output of analytical models that address focused needs.  Previously this ability was available only to the largest of sophisticated companies, like my former enterprise.    There we constructed models to drive specific understanding of the context of the world and interacting businesses. Every consumer and the smallest company should now have the same capability.

Today,  methods like data visualization, rule based process modeling, and embedded decision analytics are all available to connect the consumer, small business and their customers.  A mix of data science and analytic techniques provide new ways to solve difficult problems.   Problems whose solutions are often volatile over time.  There will be challenges to these approaches, but all the tools are here today.  The connection of decision architectures to tools and social networks will be one challenge.  The delivery of supported and understandable analytic expertise to the consumer will be another.

I plan to post more about this work as it emerges.   Look for that here.

The joint research study provides more detail about the approach.  The Brad Smith round table presentation is here.

Bayes Theorem Visualization

Pointed out to me.  The classic example of breast cancer detection, often used as an example of using Bayes Theorem to produce non intuitive statistical results.  In this video a visualization technique is used to motivate the results.   Via Luana Micallef.  Also further, this rational explanation.

Behavior and Psychology

Correspondent Lisa C. Kaczmarczyk  In her Interdisciplinary Blog,  ' ...  "You can talk about behavior without knowing anything about psychology" according to Christopher Konrad, one of the panelists at the UX and Psychology meeting I have been discussing in the last few posts. Konrad has a significant background in  software for several large companies we all know and love (or hate, depending upon your personal taste) such as Microsoft, Intuit and Sandia National Labs. He also has a degree in Psychology and runs his own design firm (suitably named Konrad) so you can't just write off his comment without considering what it might mean.... ' 

The Users of Big Data

On the Human component of Big Data in HBR.  This is not discussed as much as it should be.  How do people interact with the data and the analytics that come from having more and richer data?    I have discussed several recent examples of making this work. Such at P&G's Business Sphere Environment.  Also a number of data visualization vendors that are driving easier data understanding to the user.  The tools must be intuitive.  Artificial Intelligence will ultimately help, but it is the engagement of the user that will drive these systems to real value.

Signal and Noise

An excerpt from Nassim Taleb's  forthcoming book: Antifragile.  On order.
" ... When consuming information, we strive for more signal and less noise. Intuitively we feel like the more information we consume the more signal we receive. While this is probably true on an absolute basis, Nassim Taleb argues in this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Antifragile, that it is not true on a relative basis. He contends that as you consume more data, and the ratio of noise to signal increases, the less you know what’s going on and the more inadvertent trouble you are likely to cause ... "

Intuit Using Big Data to Delight You

In GigaOM:  Some months back I gave a talk at Intuit on the leveraging of data resources.  This is not an outcome of that, but an intriguing direction that they are taking.    How do you construct 'data for delight'?  Of course the phrase is not dissimilar from what we worked with in the consumer goods industry.

" ... That, Intuit Senior VP of Big Data, Social Design and Marketing Nora Denzel told me, was the reaction of one of her co-workers after getting a view of her personal finances using Mint.com. Company bias aside, the story is telling of how individuals might expect to directly benefit from analytics today. Large companies use big data techniques as methods to simultaneously increase revenue and save operating costs, but the most-direct benefit to consumers is usually a targeted advertisement or a list of possible social networking connections. That’s pretty lame. A consumer service that actually cares about your bottom line…? Well, that’s something. ... " 

Solving a Data Science Problem

Vincent Granville on ways to solve a data science problem. An interesting case study that uses a number of common analytic methods.  Well described:  " .... Here we discuss four approaches to solve the following marketing problem: identify, each day, the most popular Google groups, within a large list of target groups. You want to post in these groups only. The only information that is quickly available for each group, is the time when the last posting occured. Intuitively, the newer the last posting, the most active the group. There are some caveats such as groups where all postings come from one single user - a robot - for instance groups that focus on posting job ads exclusively. They should be in your black list.... "

Turbo Tax Goes Mobile

Intuit reports that their flagship Turbo Tax package, which I have used for years,  is now available on iPhone, iPad and Android.  The package can be used to both prepare and file taxes. Nice development as we increasingly go mobile.

Balanced Insight

Attended an excellent talk by Tom Hammergren, CEO of Balanced Insight  as part of the local BI group here last night.   See also their blog.    Quite insightful view of agile business intelligence.  And their newest development:

Balanced Insight Consensus Delivers Agile Business Intelligence(BI) development out of the box

By bridging the gap between outdated development approaches and user needs, Consensus shortens cycles to define and align requirements, enables rapid prototyping, increases the speed of deployment and release schedules, and ultimately creates a more nimble and adaptable BI environment. Lastly, Consensus complements existing BI technologies, and gives users intuitive and timely access to the tools and insights they need to make intelligent, data-driven decisions .... 

Why Can't SIRI talk to Watson?

Thoughtful GigaOm piece on AI.  I spent years doing enterprise AI and what we did only worked when it was focused.  We saw what IBM was doing at that time and it was impressive even then. The AI's of today are impressive, but are still not as smart as you may think.   Mimicking generalized intelligence is still tough.

"  ... As David Ferrucci, the guy at IBM behind Watson’s creation, explained during a conversation before the match, that as intuitive as the interactions with Siri or Watson appear to us, they are fundamentally task oriented. So the questions that Watson gets are in effect “translated” not just into the zeros and ones of digital signals but also to a series of words that are then broken down into related concepts ... "

Readying to Unwire the Enterprise

In Knowledge at Wharton: The enterprise still has lots of wires.  Can continued control be effective once the enterprise goes wireless?

" ... In another context, former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley summed up the situation this way: "We have to strike the right balance between being in touch and being in control. The irony is the more in control we are, the more out of touch we become."
The notion of relinquishing control in order to win is counterintuitive for most large companies. They have spent their corporate lives putting controls and processes in place to regulate behavior, maintain a common identity/brand and drive efficiencies. But the very controls that define them are also the ones that may impede their ability to innovate around wireless, given that such innovation is all about allowing the end-user to discover what new and useful things they can do with the technology. As enterprises will come to realize, control is just an illusion in the digital world.... "

Master Class on the Science of Human Nature

In The Edge: This looks very good.

 " ... Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman on the marvels and the flaws of intuitive thinking; Harvard mathematical biologist Martin Nowak on the evolution of cooperation; UC-Santa Barbara evolutionary psychologist Leda Cosmides on the architecture of motivation; UC-Santa Barbara neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga on neuroscience and the law; Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker on the history of violence; and Princeton religious historian Elaine Pagels on The Book of Revelations ... ".   

Wow, where else could you get such an all star, free set of lectures?  The first one is ready for viewing and the others will follow.

Can Computers Communicate Visually?

Visualization Viewpoint in IEEE Computing Now,   If they can, can we do the same working with them?
Can Computers Master the Art of Communication?   A Focus on Visual Analytics.  by Klaus Mueller, Supriya Garg, Julia EunJu Nam, Tamara Berg, and Kevin T. McDonnell

Visual analytics seeks to conduct a discourse with the user through images, to stimulate curiosity and a penchant to decipher the unknown. The computer supports the user in this interactive analytical reasoning, constructing a formal model of the given data, with the end product being formatted knowledge constituting insight. Yet, validation and refinement of this computational model of insight can occur only in the human domain expert's mind, bringing to bear possibly unformatted knowledge as well as intuition and creative thought ... "